Method of making inflatable hose



Aug. 7, 1945. J; A. MULLER- ETAL METHOD OF MAKING INFLATABLE HOSE Filed April 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS JOHN A. MULLER BY Z4WFNC,6WA/VJ70IY ,4 TTORNEY Aug. 7, 1945. J. A. MULLER ET AL 2,381,074

.METHOD OF MAKING INFLATABLE HOSE Filed April 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 '7 1" ZZZ f v ATTORNEYHV Patented Aug. 7, 1945 warrior) or MAKING INFLATABLE noss John A. Muller, Ridgewood, and Lawrence Cranston, Glen Rock, N. 1., assignors to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 29, 1942 Serial No. 440.994

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel hose or tubeformed of rubberized fabric and more particularly to the method of making the same.

Heretofore, two well known methods have been employed for making a hose or tube from fabric treated with rubber.

One such method is to use a mandrel that is placed inside of the unvulcanized hose or tube to maintain the same in a round tubular condition during vulcanization.

The other method, known as the lead sheath method, is carried out by extruding a lead jacket upon the finished but unvulcanized hose to confine the hose during vulcanization, the lead sheath being removed after the hose is vulcanized. v The first method permits the manufacture of tubes of any desired size from a fraction of an v inch up to several feet in diameter, but is limited as to length since it is not practical to use a mandrel much longer than fifty feet.

The second method permits the manufacture of tubes of great length but is limited as to size since it is not practical to make a tube by this method more than several inches in diameter.

In both of these methods the-hose or tube is retained in a round tubular condition during vulcanization, and in each method diil'erent size apparatus is required for each diii'erent size hose or tube to be made. v

The present invention, contemplates a method whereby a hose or tube of any desired size and of any desired length may be made, thereby avoiding the limitation as to length of the first method above describedfand the limitation 'as to size of the second method. Furthermore, by

employing the method of the present invention the same apparatus may beused to make differentsize tubes varying in diameter from less than an inch to several. feet in diameter.

A primary feature of the present invention resides in the 'method whereby the hose or tube is vulcanized in aflatly pressed condition instead of a round condition as heretofore. A hose or tube constructed by this method is easyto distinguish from those constructed heretofore, in that the present hose or tube has permanent lines of fold or air but was developed more particularly to provide an inflatable tubular pontoon which 7 may be a hundred feet or more in length and approximately afoot in diameter when inflated. Such a pontoon was produced by simply closing the ends of the present tube and then inflating the tube with air.

The above and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating the present hose and method of making the same,

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view ofan inflated tubular pontoon constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a-sectional perspective view through the hose or pontoon of Fig. l.

'Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of the tube of Fig. 2 when deflated. the outer fabric ply being partly removed.

Fig. 4 on an enlarged scale is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the tubular pontoon of Fig. 1 deflated and rolled up into a compact roll.

' v gether.

along its opposite sides which enable it to lie in a completely flat condition when not inflated. This makes'the .present hose easy, to roll up into a compact pac ase when not in use.

A hose or tube constructed in accordance with the present invention may be employed to conductor c'o'nflne any one of a number'of liquids or gases. It is well adapted for use as a fire hose Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the tubular member of Fig. 8 deposited on a second sheet of rubberized fabric with the overlapping edge seam turned downagainst this fabric.

- Fig. -10 is a similar view showing the outer fabric Ipartly folded about the inner tube of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a similar view showing the outer fabric completely applied about the inner tube to form a muiti-ply hose or tube ready to be vulcanized.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a conventional platen press or vulcanizing press; and

Fig. 131:: a sectional view through the press of Fig. 12.

In making a hose or tube in accordance with the present invention any suitable rubberized fabric may be used, but the material preferably employed'is a canvas of the desired weight for the size and strength of the particular tube to be constructed. This canvas is preferably impregnated or coated with a suflicient amount of rubber to afford the canvas the desired amount of protection and to render it impervious to the liquid or gas which the tube is designed to confine. The rubber applied to the canvas should also be sufficient to bond one canvas ply to another in a multi-ply construction.

There isshown in Fig. 6 of the drawings a sheet of fabric I such as ordinary woven canvas of the desired width and having a coating 2 of unvulcanized rubber upon its upper face. This"coating may be applied to the canvas as a skim coat,

and the opposite face of the fabric is preferably impregnated with rubber frictioned thereupon.

In carrying out the present invention, as above mentioned, the hose or tube is vulcanized in a fiat condition. It is therefore important to introduce within the tube an adhesion preventing agent such as indicated by 3 and which will serve to prevent the upper and lower walls of -.the interior of the tube from adhering together when the tube is being vulcanized with these walls pressed firmly I together. To this end there may be applied to the upper face of the rubber coating 2 as shown in Fig. 6 or introduced within the tube, any one thereof through a platen press or vulcanizing press of usual construction. Such a press is shown in Fig. 12 as provided with an upper fixed plate or platen I l and a lower moveable plate or platen II. The upper plate is supported in a fixed position by the bolts 13 and the lower plate is adapted to be raised and lowered by the hydraulic plungers 14 which slide within the operating cylinders l5.

It is important in vulcanizlng this hose or tube in a fiat condition, to take steps to prevent the rubber at the inner and outer face of the tube at the fold from being unduly displaced by the Q flowing action-caused by the heat and pressure of a number of materials which will prevent the 1 surfaces from adhering together during vulcanization. Some such materials which can be used 7 satisfactorily are soap stone, soap, water-glass, Holland sheeting, etc.

The unvulcanized rubberized fabricstrip of Fig. 6 of the desired width is formed into a tube by folding inwardly the longitudinal side portions '4 mid 5, by any well known means, so as to bring the side portions towards each other as shown in Fig. .7. These side portions are then folded into over-lapping relation so that the over-lapping edges may be secured together as indicated by 6 in Fig. 8 to form a tube having the rubber coatins 2 forming the inner wall thereof; This completesthe formation of the unvulcanized inner tube of Fig. 8, andthe same could be ,vulcanized in accordance with the present invention to provide a hose or tube of a single ply thickness.

It is desirable, however, in many cases to form the hose or tube with two or more plies and therefore the tube of Fig. 8 is shown in Fig. 9 as hav-' ing been turned over so that its seam 8 faces downwardly when this tube is placed upon a sec-- ond rubberized sheet I, which sheet may be similar'to that shown in Fig.6 except that it is prefer- -'ably slightly wider and has-the rubber covered of the press. This is accomplished when the construction of Fig. 13 is employed by providing between the plates II and H the side irons or edge strips I! which are so positionedwithinthe vulcanizing press that they will serve as abutting shoulders or supports for the opposite edges of the folded tube during vulcanization as will be apparent, from Fig. 13. These side irons should be of slightly less thickness than the compressed tube within the vulcanizer so that they will fully a ploy the side irons I shown in Fig; 13 since undue displacement of the rubber from the fabric within the vulcanizing press at the points of fold may be avoided by subjecting the tubular roll indicated by ill in Fig. 12 to a preliminary or partial vulcanization in an open heater or steam vulcanizer, to thereby set the rubber at the points of fold sufllciently to prevent the rubher from flowing unduly at these points under the action of the, heat and pressure to which it will be subjected in the vulcanizer of Fig. 12.

As soon as one longitudinal portion of the hose or tube is vulcanized by the apparatus shown in Fig. 12 the press may be opened and the next length introduced therein, to thereby vulcanize successive portions of the tube throughout its entire length, whereupon the tube'will be finsurface 2 thereupon so positioned that this coated surface will lie at the outside of the finished hose or tube; After the parts are placed as shown in "I flattened condition, there will be formed at di- Fig. 9, the longitudinal side portions 0 and s of Y the rubberized fabric I are folded inwardly towardseach other about the inner tube of Fig. 8

as shown in Fig. 10, whereupon the overlapping edges of the side portions land] are secured tonoted that the seams 6 are well spaced from each other.

This'completes the o .ration of building up the two-ply unvulcanized hose or tube shownin Fig. 11 and designated by the letter T, and the same is now ready to be vulcanized. If thehose or tube T is of relatively great length, it will be preferable to wind it up into a roll such as indicated by III in Fig. 12 to facilitate handling the same. It

may then be vulcanized in accordance with the -present invention by advancingsuccessive lengths gether as shown in Fig. ll, wherein it will be ished and ready for service, except possibly for equipping the ends thereof with threaded connections or other desired attachments.

Since this hose or tube was vulcanized in a ametrieally opposite points along the,inner surface thereof the permanent lines of fold indicated' by IT in, Flg.-2,-and there will be formed along the outeisfaee of the tube the slightly discernible-r'ubber ribs I! produced by the pressure of-the side irons l6 against the tube at these points. The ribs; I! however will beless apparent-if the surfaces of the'sideirons I. which form these ribs are curved to conform to the curvature of the outer wall of the inflated tube.

v The method of the present invention, as above stated, was developed primarily to provide in- 'flated tubular-pontoons of approximately a foot in diameter when the tube is inflated and of great length." In order that this tube might be inflated it was necessary to seal the ends thereof. This done byrremoving the ad;-

in a platen press to vulcanize the walls of the tube together by means of the rubber IS. The

ends 20 were then provided with grommets consisting of the side plates 2| firmly secured to the opposite faces of the flattened ends 20 by the hollow rivets 22. The tubular pontoon of Fig. 1 is preferably provided with a valve 23 of any suitable construction so that the pontoon may be inflated with air, whereupon it is finished ready for use.

The inflated tubular pontoon of Fig. 1 may be employed for a number of uses, such for example, as to floatingly support an oil line or water line extending from the shore to a vessel this pontoon is not in use the air may be removed therefrom whereupon it can be rolled up into the compact package shown in Fig. 5, and since the hose or tube T forming this pontoon was vulcanized in a flat condition, it can be rolled tube normally will lie flat and permanent lines of fold are formed along the opposite sides of the tube.

2. The method of manufacturing a hose or tube in a fiat condition, which consists in folding inwardly toward each other into fiat overlying relation the longitudinal side portions of a strip of rubberized fabric, securing the edges of these side portions together to form a flattened tube, providing an adhesive preventing agent within the flat tube to prevent its walls from adhering together as the tube is vulcanized, introducing the tube in a flat condition into v in the water some distance therefrom. When 1 up into a much more compact package than the ordinary hose or tube which was vulcanized in a round condition.

While reference is made in the specification and claims to a rubberized fabric, it is to be understood that the term rubber is to be construed broadly as covering natural or artificial rubber or rubber-like materials. It will also be understood that while the weaveof the fabric has been indicated in Figs. 6 to 11 inclusive, such weave may be completely concealed in the actual construction by the thickness of the rubber.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of producing a hose or tube of great length, which consists in folding inwardly toward each other the longitudinal side portions of a strip of rubberized fabric and securing the edges of these side portions together to form a tube, providing an agent within the tube that will prevent the inner walls thereof from adhering together, and then progressively introducing a vulcanizing platen pressso that its walls will contact entirely across the tube, and vulcanizing the tube in a completely fiat condition so that it normally will lie flat and have permanent lines of fold formed along its opposite edges.

3. The method of manufacturing a hose or tube in a fiat condition, which consists in folding inwardly toward each other into flat overlying relation the longitudinal side portions of a strip of rubberized fabric, securing the edges of these side portions together to form a flattened tube, providing an adhesive preventing agent within the flat tube to prevent its walls from adhering together as the tube is vulcanized, introducing the tube in a flat condition into a vulcanizing platen press so that its walls will contact entirely across the tube, supporting the outer edges of the folded tube in the press against spreading, and heating the press to thereby vulcanize the tube in a completely fiat condition so that it normally will lie fiat.

4. The method of manufacturing a hose or tube in a fiat condition, which consists in folding a plurality of rubberized fabric strips one about the other with their edges secured together to form a multi-ply tube in which the seam formed by the edges of one strip is well spaced from the seam formed by the edges of the other strip, providing a coating agent within the tube that will prevent the inner walls thereof from adhering together as the tube is vulcanized, introducing the tube in a flat condition into a vulcanizing press so that its walls will contact across the tube, and vulcanizing the tube in a completely flat condition so that it normally will lie fiat and .have permanent lines of fold formed along its 

